Category: News

Gamekeeper sentenced for wildlife crimes on Redmyre Estate, Abernyte, Perthshire

Further to the blog entry of 3 March 2010……

Gamekeeper Graham Barclay Kerr (53) of Mary Findlay Drive, Dundee, who had earlier pleaded guilty to shooting a buzzard and being in possession of illegal and deadly poisons on the Redmyre Estate, Abernyte, Perthshire on 9 September 2009, has now been sentenced.

His punishment? A pathetic £400 fine for shooting the buzzard with a .243 rifle, and an even more pathetic ‘admonishment’ (which means a telling off) for being in possession of Carbofuran and Alphacloralose. Sentencing him at Perth Sheriff Court on 24 March 2010, Sheriff Robert McCreadie told Kerr, “You may not have appreciated how serious the courts take the illegal destruction of wildlife. I think you will be aware of that now”.

Really? A £400 fine for deliberately shooting a protected species is not what I would call a deterrent for other gamekeepers or their employers. And an admonishment for the possession of illegal and highly toxic poisons is nothing but lamentable. When oh when will the public see the full force of the law being handed down to convicted wildlife criminals? The Scottish judiciary has been given the powers to impose large fines or custodial sentences for convicted wildlife criminals, because that is the punishment that society deems fitting for these crimes. The Scottish government claims to be ‘stamping out’ wildlife crime. Perhaps the government and the judiciary need to get together and make sure they are reading from the same book, let alone the same page, because so far their actions speak louder than their words. This case speaks volumes.

Full story: http://www.perthshireadvertiser.co.uk/perthshire-news/local-news-perthshire/perthshire/2010/03/26/buzzard-killed-my-former-perthshire-gamekeeper-73103-26110898/

Inside case details from Tayside Police: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/paw-scotland/Resources/Newsletters/Issue2/Inthecourts/GrahamKerr2010

Red kite death being investigated by North Yorkshire police

Dead red kite

Police are investigating the death of a red kite found in North Yorkshire last week, amid concerns that it may have been poisoned. The kite was found by a farmer in a field and police have now organised for toxicology tests to be conducted.

The kite was found in an area where numerous poisoning incidents have taken place.

More on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/8582433.stm

National Gamekeepers’ Organisation Advice – What to do if you are raided by the police.

Whilst looking through the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation website  for information on another raptor persecution article, I came across an interesting few pages under the heading, ” What to do in the Event of a Police Search”.

In this section you can find information on police warrants, what to do while a search is in progress, what to do when arrested and/or locked up, not to answer any questions until your solicitor is present etc. With the prominent position that this advice commands, the uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking that having your home and workplace searched or being arrested and locked up is part and parcel of the work of the gamekeeper. Well, is it? Perhaps I’m being a little naive!

It also occurred to me that if an organisation that represented another profession, for example medical doctors, solicitors, teachers or indeed scrap metal merchants, distributed information on what to do when arrested you may think that something was pretty rotten at the core of that profession.

http://www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk/media/resource_files/PoliceSearchesAdvice.pdf

Alex Hogg’s Change of Heart?

16th March 2010. The Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association (SGA) chairman Alex Hogg, has condemned the “appalling statistics” regarding the poisoning of raptors on the official SGA website. The figures he refers to were collated by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) and recently published by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) They report that a total of 27 birds of prey were found poisoned in Scotland in 2009, including 19 buzzards, four red kites one white tailed sea eagle and two golden eagles. Unfortunately the report does not “name and shame” estates, farms, individuals etc involved.

In what would appear to be a complete change of heart, Alex Hogg has stated “There is no place for raptor persecution in modern land management”.

Does this mean that Alex has seen the light and will not be pursuing his application to kill 12 buzzards on the Portmore estate where he is employed as a gamekeeper?

The SGA website also reports that Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham has condemned the figures, saying the protection of Scotland’s wildlife has never before occupied such a prominent position politically or in terms of the law, adding “this continued persecution of our precious wildlife is simply incomprehensible.”

With Sheriff Drummond still chairing the PAW Scotland Legislation, Regulation and Guidance Sub-group after his reported admission of the low priority in which he regards raptor persecution and the pathetic, lenient sentences for these crimes it’s hard to think of a reason why these disgraceful figures should improve.

Full story:  http://www.scottishgamekeepers.co.uk/content/poisoning-incidents-condemned

National Gamekeepers Organisation makes public relations faux pas

Oh dear. Comments made by the spokesman of the National Gamekeepers Organisation (NGO) this week reveal a spectacular mis-judgement of public opinion.

Writing on the official NGO blog, spokesman Alasdair Mitchell writes in support of Sheriff Drummond’s outrageous remarks at the recent police wildlife crime conference, and suggests that the illegal persecution of raptors is no big deal, nothing more than “dissing a buzzard”. http://www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk/blog/

And this comes in the same month that the National Gamekeepers Organisation decided to join PAW! Why bother? PAW is ‘supposedly’ about a working partnership to deal with addressing the horrors of wildlife crime, not dismissing it as an irrelevancy. Could it be that the NGO joined PAW as a public relations stunt, in light of the increasing public anger about raptor persecution and other wildlife crime? http://www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk/news/51/

He also seems unable to cope with the concept that a woman might have achieved academic success. If ever there was evidence that gamekeepers’ views are firmly entrenched in the Victorian era, this is it! Hey Mr Mitchell, guess what – women can also vote now, too! Welcome to the 21st century! I wonder if he has such a problem with people’s hereditary titles, like for example, Lord Barnard, who is hosting this year’s NGO Golden Grouse clay shoot? I think he must do, because otherwise that would make Mr Mitchell a hypocrite.

Rise in bird of prey poisonings in Scotland – 2009 figures just released

Depressing but wholly anticipated news today, as the raptor poisoning incidents from 2009 are released. Based on data from the government’s Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture section (SASA), the figures show an increase on 2008 incidents.

The usual ‘map of shame’ has been trotted out, not telling us anything new at all and once again, the names of the estates involved have all been removed.

News story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8570464.stm

Scottish government press release: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/03/16120046

We’ll be writing an opinion piece about this miserable news in due course, and will provide readers with information about ways you can express your disgust and concern about these relentless crimes to the people who are in a position to do something about it.

Sheriff tells wildlife crime investigator to “get a life”

Sheriff Kevin Drummond, who has presided over many wildlife crime cases in the Scottish Borders, has told a wildlife crime investigator to “Get a life”. His outburst came at the 2010 Police Wildlife Crime Conference last month, when a suggestion was made that sentencing for wildlife crime was too lenient.

Before becoming a Sheriff, Drummond worked as a defence QC for, amongst others, the Scottish Gamekeepers Assoc.

Sheriff Drummond is chairman of the Scottish government’s Partnership for Wildlife Crime (PAW) Legislation, Regulation and Guidance sub-group. Last year, the Scottish government claimed that wildlife crime was a priority issue and that it was working closely with PAW to address the problem. It seems Sheriff Drummond didn’t get the memo.

Calls are now being made for him to step down from his position on the PAW Committee, but Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham insists he’s staying put.

For the full story: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/outrage-as-wildlife-sheriff-tells-police-officer-to-get-a-life-1.1011661

Scottish police accused of failing to tackle wildlife crime

POLICE forces in Scotland have been accused of failing to tackle wildlife crime after it was revealed that just 24 cases of illegal killing of birds of prey have been taken to court in five years.

Out of 157 cases involving killing the birds – including golden eagles, red kites and hen harriers – just 15 per cent have resulted in court action.

And the average penalty for a crime linked to persecution of birds of prey was just £240, despite the maximum available penalty being £10,000 or a year in jail.

Read more at: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/news/System-39failing39-on-wildlife-crime.6130378.jp

goshawk shot in North Yorkshire

The dead goshawk.

Although the main focus of this blog is raptor persecution in Scotland, we will also be documenting incidents in other parts of the UK.

In early March 2010, a young goshawk was killed in Bransdale, North Yorkshire. An x-ray revealed the bird had been shot. A police investigation is underway.

According to a 2009 report by the RSPB, North Yorkshire has the worst record for raptor persecution incidents in England.

http://www.maltonmercury.co.uk/news/Anger-after-Goshawk-shot-in.6117021.jp

Young golden eagle poisoned in Ireland

The body of the poisoned golden eagle found in Ireland in February 2010.

Raptor persecution is not just limited to Scotland. It is also prevalent in other parts of the UK and the Irish Republic. We will be highlighting these incidents on this blog in due course, beginning with the young golden eagle that was found poisoned in Ireland in February 2010.

Any golden eagle poisoning event is tragic, but this one particularly so. This 10 month old eagle hatched in the wild in Donegal in 2009 and became one of the first wild-bred golden eagles in Ireland for over 100 years. The Golden Eagle Trust has been working hard to re-establish a population of golden eagles in Ireland, after they were persecuted to extinction during the last century. Young golden eagle chicks have been donated from nests across Scotland (typically from nests containing two chicks where usually only one chick would survive naturally) and released and monitored throughout north-west Ireland.

This eagle had been poisoned by Nitroxynil, which had been poured over the fleece of a dead lamb.

For further detailed information, please see: http://www.goldeneagle.ie/news_viewnews.php?x=5&z=132&news_id=11&article=262